Article "Public understanding of participation in regulatory decision-making: The case of bottled water quality standards in India" by CSSP Scholars

Public understanding of participation in regulatory decision-making: The case of bottled water quality standards in India
by Saradindu Bhaduri and Aviram Sharma
Public Understanding of Science, Published online before print July 24, 2012

Abstract
"Science-based" standards are an integral part of modern regulatory systems. Studies on "public understanding of science" mostly focus on high technology areas in advanced economies. In contrast, the present study analyses the public understanding of regulation in the context of standard-setting for bottled water quality in India. Using primary data, the econometric models of this paper show that public understanding of participation in regulation depends on awareness of, and trust in, existing regulatory practices in a complex, non-linear manner. In this light, the paper argues that "deficit model" and "dialogue model" frameworks cannot be seen as two mutually exclusive frameworks of analyses.

Full-text Access: http://pus.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/07/06/0963662512452231.full.pdf+html

JFTC Essay Competition 2012 - Topic: “Strategies for a Depopulating Japan”

JFTC Essay Competition 2012
Essay Topic: "Strategies for a Depopulating Japan"

Since 2005, the Japan Foreign Trade Council, Inc. (JFTC) has sponsored an annual essay competition to encourage students, young researchers and business people to express their opinions on matters of national and international importance.
For the best essays, judges will award one Grand Prize of 1 million yen and three Prizes for Excellence worth 200,000 yen. Award winners from abroad will also be provided with a round-trip flight to Tokyo to attend the award ceremony on 8 January, 2013.

"Strategies for a Depopulating Japan"
The essay topic for this year's competition is "Strategies for a Depopulating Japan". The population of Japan peaked at 127.79mn in 2004 and, according to the medium-variant projection of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, it will decrease to 115.22mn by 2030 and continue falling below the 100mn level to reach 95.15mn by 2050.
A variety of proposals to keep our society running with a dwindling population have been developed, including encouraging people to have larger families, new business models focusing on enhancing the standards of living for the ageing, reforms to the political and social security systems, and efforts to import manpower. However, none have proven remarkably effective. What kind of country should we create in the future? And how can we achieve it? The drastic decline of a population in a rapidly ageing society is expected to have a negative impact in various areas of people's lives—slowing economic growth, draining the national revenue, threatening the quality of social security systems, and even causing a serious concern over national security.
Population decline due to a low birth rate in an ageing society is not a unique problem to Japan and represents a globally developing concern—including in China and European nations. As the first country to face this problem, the rest of the world is watching closely to see how Japan will cope effectively.
Based on the issues outlined above, JFTC invites all participants to write freely about their ideas on a depopulating Japan—unrestricted by conventional ideas worldwide.

How to submit
Individuals of all nationalities and ages are free to enter the competition. Essays must be submitted using the downloadable entry form on the JFTC website, together with both essay title and summary.
Essays can be submitted in English (max. 4,000 words) or Japanese (max. 10,000 characters) with an accompanying essay summary of no more than 400 words in English and 1,000 Japanese characters.
Deadline for submission is 15 September, 2012 at 24:00 (JST).
Winners will be announced on 14 December, 2012.
All submissions must be original and no previously published materials will be accepted.

About JFTC
JFTC is a trade-industry association with a membership comprising trading firms, trade organizations and so on, aiming to build a stable future and forge closer global links.
JFTC's objective is to contribute to the prosperity of the Japanese economy and enhance international society through the mutual exchange of people, goods, money and information with overseas countries—helping Japan become a new trading nation. The JFTC works towards developing a consensus within the business community regarding various trade-related issues—contributing to the revitalisation and development of the Japanese and global economies.
Japan Foreign Trade Council, Inc.
Public Relations Group
Tel: +81(0)3-3435-5964
E-mail: kouhou (at) jftc.or.jp
Website: www.jftc.or.jp
http://bccjacumen.com/features/publicity/2012/07/jftc-essay-competition-2012-2/

Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University is now on Facebook.

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CfPs: 1st JNU National Interaction Programme for Ph.D Scholars in Social Sciences and Humanities, 5-9 Nov. 2012

Academic Staff College, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Invites Application for Short-Term Programme

1st JNU National Interaction Programme for Ph.D Scholars in Social Sciences and Humanities

5-9 November, 2012

• Please submit your application at least 60 days before the start of a course so that we have sufficient time to correspond with you.
• JNU, ASC provides Hostel and Mess facilities to all outstation candidates..
• For further details visit http://www.jnu.ac.in/ASC or call at 011-26742566, 011-26742532, or email at asc.jnu@gmail.com

 

Application Form

CfPs: International Conference on Science and Technology for Economic Diversification (INSCITED) 2013, Trinidad

International Conference on Science and Technology for Economic Diversification (INSCITED) 2013

Conference Dates: February 27 – March 01, 2013

Venue: Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, Trinidad

Organizers: National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST), Trinidad and Tobago; National Institute of Science Technology & Development Studies (NISTADS), CSIR, India

Call for Papers

About the Conference
Scientific knowledge and technology provides countries with the tools needed to support economic transformation and sustainable development. In emerging market nations, science and technology institutions must now focus on areas over which they have influence - higher education and training, labour market efficiency, technological readiness and innovation – to diversify their countries' economic base and strengthen global competitiveness. Moreover, science can make a valuable contribution to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), improving the lives of those in emerging market and developing countries.
The National Institute of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (NIHERST), Trinidad and Tobago and CSIR-National Institute of Science Technology & Development Studies (NISTADS), India invites participation in their first joint conference entitled "International Conference on Science and Technology for Economic Diversification-INSCITED-2013."
INSCITED 2013 seeks to promote scientific research collaboration between India, Trinidad & Tobago and other emerging economies facing similar developmental challenges. The Conference aims to introduce practical policy solutions to the following challenges:

• Weak links between science institutions and the private sector
• Outdated or non-existent science and technology policies in most countries
• 'Brain drain' associated with scientists, engineers and technicians leaving the region to work in developed nations; and
• Weak and thinly spread R&D institutions or centres

INSCITED 2013 will serve as a platform for interactive learning between India, Trinidad & Tobago, and international experts, policy-makers and researchers in the various areas of higher education and training, labour markets, and science and technology. We welcome papers on the following themes/areas:

• Inclusive Growth and Economic Diversification
• Human Resource Development: Higher Education, Training and Labour Markets
• Technology and Growth

List of topics
1. Inclusive Growth and Economic Diversification
a. S&T policy framework for supporting inclusive growth, economic diversification, and sustainable development
b. Role of S&T meeting MDGs
c. Leveraging the Diaspora for reverse brain drain
2. Human Resource Development
a. S&T human resource and skills mapping
b. Emerging patterns of higher education
c. Educational linkages; professional, technical and higher education areas through use of IT enabled services such as e-Education
3. Technology and Growth
a. Promoting technology transfer in the agricultural-rural sector and SMEs
b. Developing high technology and ICT-enabled businesses
c. Advanced materials and manufacturing

We particularly welcome research papers highlighting cross-country comparative policy studies on different national institutions and policy practices, which may offer new insights for improving international competitiveness, labour market and human capital development, and creating national innovation systems.

Important Dates
Submission of abstract by 17th September 2012
Notification of acceptance of abstract by 5th October 2012
Submission of full paper by 28th December 2012
Please register by 28th September 2012

Preparation of Abstracts & Papers
Abstracts must be 150-175 words in length using Times New Roman in Microsoft Word with title in 12-point font and everything else in 11-point font. Typing should be fully justified, with 2.5 cm (one inch) margins at the top and at each side. The entire abstract, including title name of the author(s), affiliation(s), text and acknowledgements should be typed within these limits.
The Abstract title should be centred and typed in bold, 'title style' in 12-point font. On the next line, the name(s) of the Author(s) (lower case, 11-point font, in bold) should be written as initials(s) followed by family name(s). Names of author(s) must be centre and separated by semi-colons, underlining the name of the person who will present the paper. On the next line (no extra line spaces), the institution(s) of the author(s) must be typed in italics and centred. When the authors are from different institutions, the authors and institutions should be numbered using superscripts to the top right of the names and the top left of the institutions.
The body of the Abstract (without any sub-headings) should start two line spaces below the institutional identification. The text should be typed using 1.5 line spacing with an extra space separating paragraphs. Paragraphs should not be indented.
It is suggested that Abstracts include: a definition of the problem, a working proposition, methods or techniques employed, results, discussions and conclusions.
Separate guidelines will be given for the preparation of full Papers on acceptance of abstracts. The length must be below 7000 words, and only full submitted papers will be accepted.

Contact Details
Ms. Joycelyn Lee Young (joycelyn.leeyoung@niherst.gov.tt)
Dr. Naresh Kumar (nareshqumar@yahoo.com)
Mr. Robert Martinez (robert.martinez@niherst.gov.tt)

Further Details